Page 115 of Quiet Burn

The commotion around getting ready to leave was an annoyance—I don’t get why the shrimp is easy going with some of my brothers and an incessant pain in the ass to me. I’m doing everything Zavvie suggested; I even kept my mouth firmly closed when he refused to go to his old hometown. That made my soft kitsune smile proudly, something I dislike admitting made me feel good. I know he’s only trying to help smooth things over, but something about the way the shrimp fights me provokes a deep need to fight back, even about the smallest shit.

“Where are we headed?” I arch a brow at the kid’s question and he huffs in irritation. “Don’t be mean, Jasper. I’m obviously asking where the fuck the portal or whatever is on campus.”

See? This is what I mean—I didn’t even say anything.

Slash grins down at him, and I roll my eyes behind his back. My second-in-command is enigmatic on the best days, but since our new member arrived, he’s become completely unpredictable. He doesn’t support me without question and his attitude towards the kid is like he’s adopted a fucking puppy. I told him to help make sure Kit was trained and kept healthy, not become a walking sharp-toothed nanny.

“The place where we can form the portal is in the depths of the library building, little demon. That’s where we are headed.”

Kit frowns, looking confused. “When Dank brought me, the car just… appeared in the middle of campus near the admin building. Lucian and Prince Pissypants were waiting for me.”

I snort, hearing him but ignoring the jibe as I lead the group to our destination.

He’s not wrong, but he’s asking the wrong question and I’m not going to tell him.

“That’s because when someone is retrieving a surface person who belongs here—for whatever reason—they can leave and return via special portals registered for doing those things,” Anton says. “Obviously, you were invited to Discordia and accepted, so Dank was able to use one.”

That’s oversimplified, but close enough for this conversation. I keep walking towards the library with Zav next to me, his tails swishing back and forth. I don’t miss that Kit didn’t give theshark shifter snark about his basic response, nor did he scoff at the peacock. It’s annoying as fuck that only I get the salty shit, but I’m also the one who isn’t allowed to respond to it. And they coddle the fuck out of the shrimp because they didn’t see how strong he was when those fuckers were attacking him—panic attack or not.

Pussies. They’re all pussies and the shrimp can take more than they’re letting him handle.

“Are you saying those portals are used for like… bringing people to fiddle for their soul or some shit?”

Blinking, a barking laugh escapes me and they all turn to look at me. My mirth turns to a scowl quickly as I retort, “That’s just a song, shrimp. Crossroads demons definitely collect on their debts with that kind of transportation, but there are other valid reasons as well.”

“I don’t think I’d like those demons,” Kit says. His rodent companion makes a noise in agreement, making Salem chuckle. “I mean, I get that humans and other beings make the deals, but it feels like Hell’s version of a payday loan, you know? It’s more usury than help.”

“That’s thepoint,” I reply as we get to the steps. “Life isn’t easy and it’s rarely fair. Taking a short cut for short-term gain has to have consequences or it’s all anyone would ever do. The world can’t stay in balance if everyone gets everything they want or need all the time. Demons and Fae making bargains with adverse consequences help with that.”

Zav clears his throat as we ascend, looking back at the others. “That much is true. Demons are less tricky than the Fae, but they also can’t tell a complete lie. Even we have rules, KK.”

“It’s completely unfathomable that a species can’t even tell a white lie,” the shrimp grumbles. “How do they survive?”

“By beingveryskilled with words and intentions,” X answers. “Fae aresuch a painin the ass to deal with. Hopefully, we won’t come across any on this little field trip. They’re gorgeous and fabulous, butexhausting.”

Kit sighs and I have to keep my smile to myself. “Okay, Fae are pretty but obnoxious. What else do I need to know? How will I even recognize what anyone is? Are we going to a place that has a lot of different supernaturals or just demons? I feel so unprepared for this trip, and it makes my ass twitch.”

The silence that falls over the group is hysterical, but again, I keep my comments to myself. As long as the kid behaves, I promised Zavvie I would do my best to reciprocate. He hasn’t stepped on my tail yet, so I’m straining to keep my word.

“Well, uh…” Oriel stammers, then finds the thread. “We don’t actually know that, Kit Kat. You could smell some or feel vibes, or see something… Since your lineage is a mystery and you might have a few, it’s hard to predict what mechanisms your powers will use to identify threats and friendlies.”

“Great,” the shrimp mutters. “So I’ll probably, maybe feel, see, or smell something, but maybe nothing, but don’t worry because you’re all here if it goes haywire?”

“Well put, little demon.”

That should have earned my general a smart ass remark, but all he gets is a nod and a long suffering sigh.

I’m going to throttle that little shit someday.

It took longerthan I would have preferred, but I got all of my brothers to help keep Kit in check while I called the portal and within a few minutes, we were stepping out of it onto terra firma in Bay City. Squinting at the bright light of the surface, I growl under my breath. The official demon portal comes out at a spot called ‘Demon’s Gate’ in our territory of the city. I don’t want to make a huge splash that will draw the attention of the Head Fuckwit up here, so I turn to the others quickly.

“Modify your appearances—all of you. I will, too, but we need to fly under the radar for as long as possible. I don’t want to head straight for the Gemini complex, but if we don’t keep a low profile, someone will snitch to them.”

Kit’s brows furrow. “The demons up here are… enemies?”

Zavida wrinkles his nose, squeezes his eyes shut, and his tails go poof, leaving the nerdy ginger looking like a common human gamer. He’s wearing jeans and a tee shirt that says ‘I don’t care how big the room is; I cast fireball’ with a set of twenty-sided dice. Without his tails, you’d never know he wasn’t the owner of a fucking comic book shop. “Some are, KK. Luca Gemini is definitely in the probably not column, but we’re not sure about all of his fiefdom.”

“His heirs are question marks,” I grunt as I crack my neck then retract my spines. I’m still big and intimidating without them because I’m a goddamned dragon hybrid, but it feels like I’mmissing a part of me when I go bare. The shrimp’s eyes cut to me and he nods as he studies me. “What?”

---